2.1 Setting the scene

Migration is not a new phenomenon. From time immemorial, human
beings have left their homes in search for better living conditions or in fear
of persecution. Yet, over the past few decades, technological innovation has
changed important aspects of migration. Cheaper and more rapid transport and
better means of communication (mobile phones, landlines, IT, etc.) have
facilitated the creation of transnational networks, by helping maintain ties
between migrants and their family back home as well as between migrants in
different countries (transnational communities). Recently,
researchers, practitioners and policy makers have paid greater attention to the
contribution that these networks provide to the development of the home
countries. Although land is a crucial asset for rural livelihoods, so far it has
not featured very high in this debate.

This chapter outlines a conceptual framework to explore the
linkages between international remittances and access to land in the home
countries, by placing them within the broader context of the migration and
development debate and of household livelihood strategies; and by
analysing the different forms that those linkages can take and the key issues
that they raise. It draws on a review of the relevant literature from across the
world and on conversations with key informants that the author met while
travelling to West Africa on other assignments (from migrants to migrants
family members, from researchers to NGO officials).

In this study, international migration is broadly defined as
the movement of persons from one country to another (home and
destination country, respectively), although as stated above this
study focuses on South-North migration only. Migration can take very different
forms, depending on who is migrating (individuals or entire households), the
reasons to migrate (better living conditions, conflict, etc), the duration of
the stay abroad (seasonal, short term or long term), and so on. Remittances are
the monies that migrants - whether individual migrants or migrants
associations - send back to their home country. They can be sent through formal
channels, such as banks, post offices and money transfer companies, or through
informal mechanisms (by hand, family and friends). In addition to cash payments,
transfers of goods (second-hand clothes, vehicles, etc) are also common. Besides
remittances strictu senso, this study also considers other types of money
transfers relating to employment abroad, particularly pensions.

Land tenure is the system of rights, rules, institutions and
processes under which land is held, managed, used and transacted. In many
developing countries, several land tenure systems - formal/statutory,
informal/customary or combinations of both - coexist in the same territory
(legal pluralism). This study primarily focuses on land access
issues, and takes into account both formal and informal systems (e.g.
informal land purchases which are not recognised by law).

2.2 The great migration and
development debate

For a long time, migration and development have been two
separate policy areas. In destination countries, migration authorities focus on
controlling migration flows, while development agencies mainly work in the home
countries, with little coordination existing between the two (Van Hear, 2003).
In recent years, however, some home country governments have explored ways to
harness resources from the diaspora to promote development. New institutions
have been created to maintain ties with the diaspora, such as Mexicos
National Council for Mexican Communities Abroad, and a variety of policy
measures (e.g. tax breaks) have been adopted or discussed.

Pessimists v optimists

While migration and development policies have evolved in a
largely parallel way, in the literature a longstanding debate on the
relationship between migration and development has opposed optimists
and pessimists (de Haas, 2003)[4].
Optimists emphasise the benefits arising from remittances, which for
many countries are a precious source of foreign exchange as well as a major
component of household income. Second-hand goods, spare parts, vehicles and
other items sent by migrants to their home countries support their
relatives businesses. Moreover, in some places, community-based
organizations such as hometown associations channel part of the remittance
inflows into community development projects, such as schools, health centres and
wells. Returned migrants bring back knowledge, ideas, skills and experience
(Ammassari, 2003). Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests that, where
decentralization processes have transferred responsibilities to elected local
governments, migrants have played an important role in helping mobilise
resources for local development, for instance by facilitating initiatives
between local governments in destination and home countries (for examples from
Senegal, see below, Chapter 3, Box 7).

On the other hand, pessimists - particularly
fashionable in the 1970s - stress the problems created by substantial
out-migration. First, migration may entail the loss of scarce skilled labour
(brain drain). Moreover, in agriculture-based economies where a
significant portion of the adult population is away, labour shortages may make
the local economy highly dependent on remittances, raising concerns for its
sustainability in the longer term. This is especially the case for long-term and
long-distance migration, as migrants moving within a region (for example,
between the Sahel and the coastal countries of West Africa) are usually more
able to return for limited periods of time linked to the agricultural calendar.
Secondly, migrants are not usually the poorest, since moving requires
significant financial resources and social networks; moreover, migration may
further deepen inequality, as households receiving remittances are able to buy
land and other key resources, set up new businesses and improve their
childrens education, while households not benefiting from this source of
income may see their access to such resources and livelihood strategies
reduced.

Beyond economics and its optimists - pessimists
divide, migration is a factor for social and cultural change, as movement
facilitates exchange of cultural values and social behaviour patterns, and as
absence from and remittances to the family back home foster redefinitions of
values, roles and social hierarchies (e.g. along gender, age and class lines;
see below).

Remittances - a relatively large and
stable source of funding for developing countries

The global volume of remittances is widely acknowledged to be
huge, even if the figure cannot be determined with any accuracy because untold
numbers of migrants avoid the formal banking services. For this reason,
available figures are likely to greatly underestimate the size of remittance
flows. The World Bank (2003) estimates that in 2002 remittances amounted to $80
billion, nearly double the level of aid-related flows ($49 billion) and second
only to FDI (some $143 billion) as a source of external funding for developing
countries[5].

Regionally, these amounts are not evenly distributed, and in
2002 remittances were estimated to $25 billion in Latin America and the
Caribbean, $16 billion in South Asia, $14 billion in Middle East and North
Africa and $4 billion in sub-Saharan Africa (World Bank, 2003; see below, Figure
2). In 2001, Mexico received $9.9 billion in remittances, India $10 billion,
Philippines $6.4 billion, Morocco $3.3 billion, Turkey $2.8 billion and Senegal
$0.2 billion (World Bank, 2003; see below, Figure 3). These figures would need
to be adjusted for GDP and population sizes in order to reflect the relative
importance of remittances. Indeed, as a share of GDP, remittances are
significantly higher in lower-income countries than in other developing
countries (Ratha, 2003; see below, Figure 4). Top destination areas from which
remittances are sent include North America (United States), Western Europe
(Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France and Italy) and the Arabian Gulf (Saudi
Arabia) (World Bank, 2003; see below, Figure 5).

Besides these static figures, it is important to
note the growing importance and relative stability of remittances over time.
During the 1990s, while official aid decreased (from $49.5 billion in 1991 to
$41.6 billion in 2000), remittances almost doubled (from $33 billion in 1991 to
$65 billion in 1999; Gammeltoft, 2002, using data from the IMF). Moreover, while
capital flows are highly volatile depending on economic cycles, remittance flows
are remarkably stable over time (Ratha, 2003).

For many migrants, sending remittances to support their family
is a moral and social obligation. Remittances also enhance migrants social
status, and enable them to maintain a foothold in their home area, so that they
will be welcome upon their return (Tacoli, 2002). Factors affecting the amount
and frequency of remittances include the level of migrants earnings,
migrants legal position in the destination country (regular/irregular),
the length of the stay abroad, migrants marital/family status (e.g.
whether he/she has children in the destination country), migrants desire
to return, exchange rates, political risk, access to facilities for transferring
funds, and the nature of the relationship between the migrant and family back
home (van Doorn, n.d.; Kabki et al, 2003).

Figure 1. Workers
remittances received by all developing countries (1995-2002)

Remittances and development: macro,
meso and micro level linkages

Remittances and development linkages may be explored at three
levels. At the macro level, remittances are a precious source of foreign
exchange, and as such inject capital in the economy and may help reduce balance
of payments deficits.

At the meso level, many communities benefit from development
projects initiated and funded by associations of migrants overseas. Typical
examples include the construction of schools, health centres, religious
buildings, wells and irrigation schemes. Migrants associations usually
work on the basis of quotas paid by their members, and mobilise additional
funding through NGOs and other development agencies. Although these associations
are not specific to any particular nationality, some ethnic groups, such as the
Soninké of Mali and Senegal, are known to have a stronger tradition than
others. Problems experienced in the past and reported in the literature include
different perceptions of needs and priorities between migrants and home
communities (FASTI, 1991; Yatera, 1997; Lavigne Delville, 1991; Smith and
Mazzucato, 2003; Tacoli, 2002; Okali et al, 2001; Sander, 2003).

At the micro level, remittances are a major source of support
for households livelihoods. Unlike aid, remittances flow directly to
individual households and unlike loans they incur no debt. Besides contributing
to consumption in the short term (by enabling to pay for food, clothes,
healthcare, etc), remittances can foster longer-term development through
investment in education, land and small businesses. Among the different aspects
of the remittances-development relationship, this study focuses on these micro,
household-level dynamics.

Box 1. Migration and remittances in international legal
instruments

Given migrants invaluable contribution to their home countries and their
often vulnerable position in destination countries, a range of international
instruments aims to protect migrants rights and to promote their
development contribution.

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights
of All Migrants Workers and Members of Their Families was adopted in 1990 and
entered into force in 2003. It protects a range of rights for legal
(documented) migrants as well as some basic rights for illegal
migrants. Among other things, the Convention protects the right of legal
migrants to send remittances, and requires destination country governments to
facilitate such transfers (article 47). Moreover, legal and illegal
migrants have the right to transfer earnings and savings upon termination of
their stay in the destination country (article 32). However, the Convention has
only been ratified by a very small number of states (20 in 2003), and although
some major home countries have ratified it (including Senegal and Ghana), no
destination country has done so as yet.

Moreover, in 2003, within the context of the WTO/GATS
negotiations, several developing countries filed a proposal for liberalization
of Mode 4 service provision, aimed at easing entry restrictions on
temporary movement of natural persons through, among others: a clearer
differentiation between permanent immigration, to remain subject to normal
immigration rules and procedures, and temporary movement of service suppliers,
to be liberalised under the GATS; and greater recognition of professional
qualifications (WTO document TN/S/W/14, 3 July 2003).

Steps have also been taken at the bilateral level. For
instance, France has signed a series of bilateral treaties with Francophone
African countries, concerning entry requirements and procedures
(Conventions rélatives à la circulation et au sejour des
personnes), migrants rights (Conventions
détablissement) and co-development. The
Co-development Convention between Senegal and France (2000) aims to
harness skills and resources from Senegalese migrants in France to promote
development in Senegal; to support the professional integration in Senegal of
Senegalese students in France; and to jointly manage migration flows (Plancade,
2002). An agreement with similar aims was signed in 2000 between Mali and France
(Martin et al, 2002).

2.3 Remittances within household
livelihood strategies

It is well known that livelihood strategies in developing
countries are highly diversified and build on a range of assets and activities.
The sustainable livelihoods literature identifies five broad types
of capital assets - human, social, natural, physical and financial capital
(Chambers and Conway, 1992; Ashley and Carney, 1999; Carney, 2002). In this
context, remittances constitute a specific type of financial capital, alongside
e.g. wages, pensions and credit, and in many areas account for a substantial
share of household income. In Bangladesh, for instance, Siddiqui and Abrar
(2001) found that remittances accounted for 51 percent of households total
income. Similarly, in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, 45 percent of households
depend on remittances from the US as their main source of income (Sander, 2003).
These resources contribute to household livelihoods both by increasing the level
of income and wealth and by diversifying income sources, thereby helping manage
risk (de Haas, 2003).

As cash income, international remittances present strong
similarities with other forms of financial capital (wages, pensions
and internal remittances). Specificities nevertheless exist in terms of both
nature and scale. First, the amount of money involved is usually much higher
than for incomes earned in-country. This broadens the portfolio of possible uses
to capital-demanding projects such as house building and land purchases.
Secondly, international remittances come with a variety of other assets that
migrants may gain in the destination country, from skills and entrepreneurial
attitudes (human capital) to extensive networks of friendships and
contacts in the home, destination and other countries (social
capital).

Remittances can be used in a variety of ways, and may increase
access to other capital assets. For instance, they may be used to pay for
education (human capital), to buy a shop (physical
capital) and to improve access to land (natural capital).
Greater access to these assets may in turn enable the household to support the
emigration of other members, thus raising the level of remittances. At the same
time, other capital assets contribute to the effective use of remittances. For
instance, migrants usually rely on their networks in the home country
(social capital) for help in building houses, buying land and
setting up businesses. The following paragraphs review a few recurrent uses of
remittances (the order does not entail any ranking; land-related uses are not
included here, as they are dealt with separately in section 2.4 below). Before
addressing these, however, some methodological challenges and conceptual caveats
need to be highlighted.

Methodological
challenges

Studying how households use remittances and the developmental
impact of these uses at the micro level is riddled with methodological
difficulties. First of all, as cash income, remittances are subject to
fungibility problems: once they enter the overall household income
pot, remittances become indistinguishable from other income sources.
Therefore, it is difficult to associate them with specific income uses and with
any particular changes in expenditure behaviour (Adams, 1996). For instance,
although remittances per se may not be intended to be invested in land, they may
enable the household to free other income for investment. To overcome this
problem, some researchers have studied statistical correlations between
international migration and specific behaviours or assets, rather than
investigating the uses of remittances as such (e.g. de Haas, 2003).

Secondly, even where correlations are shown, it may be
difficult to establish causation. For instance, if it emerged that migrant
households were more likely to buy land or invest in education than non-migrant
ones, it would still need to be ascertained whether this is due to remittances
or to the fact that migrant households are likely to be among the wealthier and
better-educated ones (de Haas, 2003).

Thirdly, the developmental effects of remittances are not
limited to the immediate consumption or investment of the household receiving
them. These first-round uses generate multiplier effects
which are very difficult to measure (Adams, 1996; Glystos, 2002).

Finally, data are usually available at one point in time,
which makes it difficult to assess change over time (Adams, 1996). This is
particularly problematic considering that there may be a substantial time gap
between migration and investment of remittances, as in the early stages
households are often forced to use remittances to improve living conditions (de
Haas, 2003).

Households use of remittances:
some caveats

Remittance uses vary greatly depending on variables concerning
both the migrant (level of earnings, seasonal/long-term/permanent migration,
etc) and his/her household back home (for instance, poorer households are more
likely to use remittances to meet their basic needs). In this sense, what
migrants and migrant households do with remittances largely depends on who they
are. Moreover, remittances use also varies depending on the national and local
context. For instance, using remittances to improve access to social services
such as health and education may be the result of policy measures that
negatively affect access to those services (e.g. structural adjustment).
Generalizations should therefore be avoided.

Furthermore, households should not be treated as monolithic
entities in remittance dynamics. Anecdotal evidence suggests that, consciously
or unconsciously, migrants may use their role in supporting the family to
increase their weight vis-a-vis other siblings, even breaking traditional age
hierarchies. Moreover, while migrants are usually eager to help their family
back home, they also need to protect themselves against a large number of
unsolicited requests from the extended family (favours, loans, etc).
Finally, while household members are usually the main receivers of remittances,
friends and neighbours may also benefit, and businesses may be set up not only
with family members but also through new relationships developed with other
migrants while overseas (Kabki et al, 2003; Smith and Mazzucato, 2003). All
these factors may affect use decisions (e.g. setting up a business in the
capital city rather than in the home village).

In the literature, some distinguish between
productive and unproductive uses of remittances. This approach
is not followed here, as the border line between the two is blurred. For
instance, a car can be used both to meet the households transport needs
and to set up a transport business. Similarly, food, clothing and health care,
often seen as consumption, also contribute to asset creation by
increasing human capital.

Food, clothing, health care and
education

Among the different types of remittance use, improving the
households living conditions is a key priority. This is especially the
case for lower income households, who can use remittances to supplement other
sources of income. In Bangladesh, for instance, Rahman (2000) found that more
than 30 percent of the remittances were used to meet households basic
needs. This includes food, clothing and health care (e.g., on Ghana, Smith and
Mazzucato, 2003; on Mexico, Basok, 2003; on Nigeria, Mali and Tanzania, Tacoli,
2002). Anecdotal evidence suggests that remittances are also used to buy
consumer goods, such as domestic appliances, radios, mobile phones and satellite
TV. Migrant households may use remittances to repay debts, including those
contracted to support migration[6].

Remittances are frequently invested in education. In Ghana,
for instance, Kabki et al (2003) found that remittances paid for school and
university fees of children in the extended family. In Morocco, children in
international migrant households were found to be significantly better educated
than children in non-migrant or internal migrant households (de Haas,
2003).

Housing

Building a new house or repairing the existing one is
consistently reported in the literature as the most frequent use of remittances.
In Turkey, the 1970 Abadan Survey found that 49 percent of
remittances were spent on housing (quoted in Russell, 1986). Similar results
were reported for Pakistan (Gilani et al, 1981). In Ghana, Kabki et al (2003)
found that the majority of the migrants interviewed were investing in a house
for their family, and that most of those who had not done so yet hoped to do it
in the future. In the Todgha oasis valley, Southern Morocco, remittances enable
families to move out of the traditional village and build new houses (de Haas,
2003). A study from eleven Mexican villages found that between 71 percent and 89
percent of migrant households had expanded or repaired their house or built a
new one (Basok, 2003).

House building may take place in the home area, in a different
area within the home country (usually the capital city), or in both (Kabki et
al, 2003; Smith and Mazzucato, 2003). These houses are often relatively unused,
as the migrants are the sole occupants and only use them when they visit home
(Smith and Mazzucato, 2003).

There is a widespread negative perception among researchers
and practitioners of the migrants construction of luxury
houses, which is held to be driven by prestige and status considerations and to
subtract resources from productive investment. While social and
cultural factors play an important role in house building projects, it must be
noted that:

A spacious,
functional and hygienic house is a legitimate aspiration, including because it
may enable households to become more independent from the extended family (de
Haas, 2003), and is at the very heart of what development is all
about;

House building generates
positive multiplier effects, as bricklayers and other workers use
their wages for consumption or investment;

In contexts characterised by
few investment opportunities and high inflation, housing is a sound way of
protecting savings; and

Housing may also generate
income, particularly by renting out the house or part of
it[7].

Box 2. A life of hard work for a house back in Cape
Verde

Ivette left her home in Cape Verde and moved to Italy when she was only 16,
in search of an independent life. She has been a domestic worker in Rome
for more than 25 years, and her daughter was born from an Italian man.
Her parents and her ten brothers and sisters are spread across Cape Verde,
Portugal and Spain, and she keeps in touch with them by telephone and
through periodic visits. Years ago, she used to send football T-shirts
to Cape Verde for a small business venture with her brother, until he
moved to Spain.

Ivette has always sent money back home to support her family.
Moreover, in 1987 she started to build her house, which is now nearly completed.
Rather than starting from scratch, she has added a floor to her parents
house in the town of Mindelo, and her brothers have helped her with the
construction works. A few years ago, she found out that her parents did not have
a land title and paid an annual fee to the municipality. In order to feel more
secure, she sought a title for the land, and obtained it with the
help of her sister. Although renting out the flat while she is away would earn
her good money, she is reluctant to do so as she fears that tenants may damage
the flat (after all the hard work she put in it!). Ivettes sisters in
Spain have followed a different route, as they have bought flats in Spain
through mortgages.

Although she used to cultivate her fathers fields when
she was a child, Ivette is not interested in agriculture, as land in Cape Verde
is very arid. She would like to return to her country on retirement, and finally
enjoy her house. However, she first needs to work until she fulfils the
requirements of the pension scheme in Italy. Source: interview with
Ivette.

Business

Many migrants use part of their earnings to set up businesses
in their home country. This may involve sending goods to a family member, who
then sells them (see e.g. Ivette in Cape Verde, box 2 above), or transferring
money. Examples of businesses include communication centres (telephone kiosks,
Internet points, etc), small hotels and restaurants, trade in second-hand goods,
and commercial transportation (Kabki et al, 2003; Smith and Mazzucato, 2003; de
Haas, 2003; Black et al, 2003). Frederic, a taxi driver in Burkina Faso, told us
that his minibus was sent to him by a cousin in Germany, who bought it
second-hand and shipped it via the port of Lomé. He now uses it as a taxi
in Ouagadougou and to take tourists for short trips to the countryside. Taxi
drivers across West Africa told us similar stories.

In setting up new businesses, migrants rely not only on
kin-based networks, but also on relationships developed while abroad with other
migrants or, in some cases, with Europeans or Americans (Smith and Mazzucato,
2003).

Religious buildings and
ceremonies

Remittances are also used to erect new religious buildings
(churches, mosques, etc.), to support religious institutions (e.g. church
donations) and to pay for religious ceremonies, particularly funerals and
weddings in the extended family. Besides faith, these decisions are influenced
by social status considerations. In Ghana, Kabki et al (2003) report remarkable
differences between funerals funded by migrants and local funerals, especially
in the type of coffin, the number of invited guests, food and drinks, and
entertainment. In some cases, decisions regarding religious buildings may be
controversial within the community and give rise to disputes (see box 3
below).

The dark side of
remittances

Besides contributing to household livelihood strategies,
remittances may also support conflict. In Somalia, for instance, remittances
provided funds for the militias that eventually overthrew the Siyad Barre
regime, and are now a source of funding for the powerful warlords (Gundel,
2002). Similar reports have been made for the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka
(Sriskandarajah, 2002). In other cases, dynamics generated by remittances may
fuel violence in an unintended way (see box 3 below).

Box 3. The construction of a mosque sparks violence in
Mali

Yerere is a small village in the cercle of Nioro, in Mali, an area characterised
by substantial out-migration. In 2003, the construction of a village mosque
funded by a migrant in Gabon sparked violent clashes. In pursuing his
project, the migrant followed the legal route and secured the approval
of local authorities, but by-passed the customary chief and village community,
who were opposed to the new mosque. The reasons for this opposition are
complex: social (the migrants family had come to the village from
another district), personal (the migrant had divorced the daughter of
the local chief), religious (the mosque serves a minority cult) and political
(the migrants family and the local chief support opposing political
parties).

When construction works started, local opposition turned
violent, resulting in several deaths (including the migrant who had come to the
village for the occasion), many wounded and a large number of arrests. After the
clashes, government authorities strongly backed the continuation of the project,
and the mosque is now completed.

Sources: Dama, pers.comm; Maiga, pers.comm.

2.4 Remittances and land: exploring
the linkages

Within the highly diversified livelihood strategies of rural
households, land constitutes a key asset. The linkages between remittances and
access to land are extremely complex and likely to vary considerably from place
to place, depending on local socio-cultural factors, on the local economic and
ecological context, and so on. They can take many different forms, from land
purchases funded through remittances to a variety of other land access
mechanisms (rentals, administrative allocations, loans, etc). They raise a range
of issues, such as effects on land use patterns, on land competition and
disputes, and on land access for non-migrant households. The land-related
effects of remittances may take decades to materialise; for instance, de Haas
(2003) found that many migrants only started to invest in land after more than
two decades of absence.

Land purchases

Studies from across the world show that purchases of
agricultural land constitute a frequent form of remittance use. Land purchases
may be formal transfers of land ownership, or informal transactions where the
seller is not the legitimate owner (e.g. as land may be owned by the state) or
has no land title to prove his land rights. In Bangladesh, Mahamood (1992) found
that some 15 percent of the remittances sent by migrants in the Middle East went
in land purchases, second only to housing (19
percent)[8]. Moreover, a survey of over 700
households in rural Pakistan revealed that international remittances had a
positive and statistically significant effect on the accumulation of both
irrigated and rain-fed land (Adams, 1996). In the Indian state of Kerala,
Zachariah et al (2001) found that a larger proportion of migrant households had
bought land than non-migrant households during the five years preceding their
survey. In rural Egypt, Adams (1991, quoted in Adams 1996) found that 73
percent of total per capita expenditures on investment by external migrants went
into the purchase of agricultural and building
land[9].

In the Todgha oasis valley, Southern Morocco, international
migrant households are found to have a higher propensity to invest in land than
other households: more than one quarter of international migrant households have
purchased agricultural land, compared to less than 10 percent of non-migrant
households. Factors accounting for this difference include not only higher
income levels associated with remittances, but also the greater income stability
and future security ensured by remittances and migrants greater
entrepreneurial attitude. Indeed, the remittances-land correlation exists even
after controlling for income levels (de Haas, 2003).

Fewer studies are available which document the location,
quality and size of the land purchased. Basok (2003) compares land purchases in
eleven Mexican villages by migrants participating in the Canadian Mexican
Seasonal Workers Programme. Her research found that land purchases were more
likely in the worst endowed areas (in terms of proximity to the
municipal capital, paved roads, etc), where 23 percent of the migrant households
had purchased land for subsistence agriculture (compared to nine percent in the
best endowed areas). This is explained by the fact that land prices
in best endowed areas were too high for migrants, although these
results may be influenced by the specificities of the Canadian Mexican Seasonal
Workers Programme (most migrants participating in this scheme are poor; Basok,
2003).

In his study in Southern Morocco, de Haas (2003) found that
most land was bought outside the oasis area, in previously barren lands
reclaimed through the creation of new water points (see below). This is because
migrants prefer to avoid the fragmented land tenure system, the inflexible water
regulations and other social constraints associated with oasis lands. On the
other hand, aged returned migrants tended to buy relatively small
plots in the oasis, as they are more oriented towards traditional oasis
agriculture than younger migrants (de Haas, 2003).

More research is needed on the nature of remittance-supported
land purchases, particularly on the extent to which they are formalized or
informal transactions, and on the process through which they take place.
Anecdotal evidence from areas around Bamako, Mali, suggests that purchases are
usually done informally, as sellers rarely have land titles; it is then up to
the buyer to formalize his land rights by acquiring formal title
from the authorities. Moreover, we were told that negotiations, purchases and
subsequent regularizations are usually done by an intermediary on behalf of the
migrant, and that the intermediary makes a profit if he manages to buy land for
less than what was agreed with the migrant.

These processes may be characterised by high transaction
costs, speculation and even fraud. Again, evidence from Mali provides an
example. A recent study from Banko, a village close to Bamako, documents the
case of a man who pocketed seven million CFA (some 4500 euros) by selling ten
hectares of land over which he had no rights (the plot was part of a land area
used communally by the village). When the buyer - an intermediary acting on
behalf of a Malian residing in France - tried to occupy the plot, he met with
the resistance of the local community. The migrants attempts to seize
administrative authorities and local notables of the matter were vain, while the
fraudulent seller vanished with the money and the intermediary was secretly
satisfied - quite understandably so, as he had himself pocketed twice the amount
given to the seller by deceiving the migrant about the price of the plot (Djire,
2004).

Looking beyond purchases

The relatively small body of literature on the linkages
between remittances and land seems to focus on land purchases. However, evidence
suggests that remittances may directly or indirectly improve access to land in
many other ways. More research is needed better to understand these different
aspects of the remittances-land linkages. Here are just a few
examples:

Increasing the
security of existing land access. Examples include paying for the procedure
to obtain title over family land[10]; releasing
land by paying out mortgages (e.g., for Bangladesh, Siddiqui and Abrar, 2001);
and, more generally, making more productive use of land through hired labour and
agricultural inputs (in many Francophone West African countries, land rights are
conditional upon productive land use - mise en
valeur).

Leases and rentals.
Migrant households keen to invest remittances in agriculture (hired labour,
agricultural inputs, etc) but without access to sufficient land may improve
their land access through rentals and long-term leases. These are particularly
useful where land sales are prohibited, or where individuals or groups are not
prepared to sell customary land (e.g., on Ghana, see chapter 4 below).

Land allocations.
Migrant households may apply for land to institutions responsible for land
allocation, whether customary or statutory, by showing their increased capacity
to cultivate more land through remittance-supported hired labour and
agricultural inputs[11]. This links up with
decentralization processes underway in many developing countries, including
across West Africa, as local governments may be granted land management
responsibilities (e.g., in Senegal, the rural councils; see chapter 3 below). In
this scenario, relevant issues include mechanisms to ensure the representation
of migrants before land management institutions, to protect the interests of
non-migrant households and to ensure the transparency of the land allocation
process.

Land loan dynamics.
Remittance inflows may also affect land loan relations. For instance, in
Banamba, Mali, migrant households may temporarily increase their land for
cultivation by borrowing plots; conversely, migrant land-owning households who
had lent to others the lands that they were not able to use, and who are now
able to cultivate more land through hired labour and agricultural inputs, tend
to claim back their lands (Diarra, pers.comm.). In some cases, these dynamics
may give rise to land disputes (e.g., on Senegal, see below, chapter
3).

Effects on land
inheritance. Within the household, remittances may affect relations between
migrant and non-migrant siblings and between children and parents. Because of
their important contribution to family income, migrants may be rewarded with
preferential treatment in land inheritance. For instance, in Tanzania, Diyamett
et al (2001) found that as the traditional inheritance system becomes less
frequent, sending remittances has often become a way to gain parental favour and
inherit the family land (page iv). Whether this case is part of a more
generalised phenomenon is a question worth further research.

All is well that ends in
wells?

The linkages between remittances and land may be mediated by
other natural resources, particularly water. In the Todgha oasis valley,
Southern Morocco, de Haas (2003) found that remittances supported a major
expansion in use of motor water-pumps, with migrant households using remittances
to fund the creation of new water points. Greater access to water has been key
for economic development in the valley since the 1970s, as it enabled all-year
round cultivation and increases in agricultural production. Pump-owning
households also sold water to other households. Moreover, new wells increased
access to land for oasis dwellers by permitting the reclamation of lands in
previously barren areas outside the oasis. These newly reclaimed lands were
first allocated to villages and then to individual households (de Haas, 2003).
Water-point creation is also reported to be a key activity of migrant
associations in Senegal and Mali.

However, the creation of water points may also bring about
negative side effects. In the Todgha oasis valley, the absence or lack of
enforcement of any form of regulation has resulted in an anarchic rise of water
pumping, raising concerns for environmental sustainability. Many wells have
dried up, presumably due to excessive pumping (de Haas, 2003).

More research is needed to ascertain whether similar processes
are also happening elsewhere, particularly in the Sahel. In many Sahelian
pastoral societies, access to dry season grazing land is determined by rights
over the water points located there, and water rights are therefore crucial to
manage pastures sustainably. In the past, failure to recognise these complex
relations between water and land, and government provision of open-access water
points have undermined customary land tenure systems and had negative
environmental and socio-economic consequences. Whether similar processes are now
taking place in relation to water points created with funds from the diaspora is
a question worth exploring.

Some thoughts on land use
changes

The existing literature seems to pay relatively little
attention to changes in land use associated with remittance-supported land
purchases and more generally with remittance inflows. Questions to be
investigated include for instance whether migrant households use the newly
acquired land for subsistence farming or for commercial agriculture; in the
latter case, whether they cultivate traditional crops or new types
of crop; whether they mainly rely on family labour or hire farm workers; whether
these processes affect the relations between farming and herding; and so
on.

A claim that is sometimes made is that out-migration and the
ensuing labour loss may result in a reduction of land under cultivation
(Rubenstein, 1992, quoted in de Haas, 2003). However, in some cases remittances
may help tackle this issue, by enabling households to recruit hired labour to
cultivate the fields. For instance, in Southern Morocco, de Haas (2003) found
that the incidence of fallow land was highest among non-migrant households, and
that migrants usually entrusted land cultivation to other household members
(women in particular), to sharecroppers or to hired labourers. This improved
wage levels and sharecropping conditions: while traditionally sharecroppers used
to retain 1/5 of the yield, at the time of the study they retained on average 41
percent of the harvest.

An example of land use change that may be induced by
remittance-supported land purchases is the transition from agricultural to
residential use. Evidence from West Africa shows that in peri-urban areas,
particularly along paved roads, agricultural lands are being converted to
residential plots, land prices are soaring and buildings are mushrooming very
rapidly without adequate service provision. While many different factors are
causing these changes, because of their greater-than-average purchasing power
migrants are often among the main initiators of building projects. In some
cases, legislation protects the land rights of urban developers that have built
beyond a specified height (e.g. in Ghana, the Land Development Protection of
Purchases Act 1962). This creates an incentive for developers, whether migrants
or others, quickly to build concrete structures beyond that height, and then
wait to earn more money to complete the building. This may partly explain the
building skeletons that can be seen in the peri-urban areas of many
West African countries. More research is needed to assess the scale of the
phenomenon, the extent to which international remittances are contributing to
it, and its impact for the farmers in peri-urban areas that lose their lands as
a result.

Land competition, multiple sales and land
disputes

In many parts of West Africa, valuable land, whether high
quality farm land or residential plots, has become scarce as a result of a
variety of socio-economic changes, particularly demographic pressure.
Competition between users has grown strongly. Lively land sale markets have also
developed, both formal and informal. These changes have brought some negative
side effects. In many cases, conflicting land claimants, even within the same
extended family, sell the same plot to different buyers. As a result, land
disputes are growing, and tenure security is undermined. Central and local
government officials manipulate this increased land competition for corruption
and rent-seeking purposes. More research is needed to assess the extent to which
remittances, by increasing demand for valuable land, are among the factors
driving these changes. The case reported in the box below suggests that they may
well be.

Box 4. Multiple sales of residential plots in peri-urban
Bamako, Mali

Dialakologi is a commune close to Bamako, in Mali. In 2000, the mayor launched
a scheme to sell some 300 peri-urban plots for residential purposes, claiming
that the land area was owned by the municipality. Several sales were made
to private individuals under the scheme. A buyer from Banamba, a town
some distance to the north, paid the municipality a large amount of money
for the purchase of 20 plots. Although his motives are not known, it is
highly likely that he was acting not only for himself but also on behalf
of migrants overseas (Banamba is home to a large number of migrant households,
and the amount of money involved would be very hard to raise without access
to international remittances).

However, a local landholding family claimed customary rights
over the same area of land. They argued that the land title shown by the
municipality was forged, and that the land really belonged to the state.
Therefore, under Malian law, customary rights over that land should be
protected. The family also sold some plots within the land area to private
individuals. Again, although precise information on the profile of the buyers
was not available, circumstances suggest that international migrants were
involved.

Buyers who had bought land from both sellers immediately
started to build on the plots, while the dispute between the municipality and
the landholding family continued. In August 2003, the Tribunal of Kati upheld
the land title produced by the mayor, decided in favour of the municipality, and
ordered the demolition of the houses built by those who had bought from the
landholding family. However, in November 2003, the Court of Appeal in Bamako
reversed the decision, decided in favour of the landholding family, and ordered
the demolition of the buildings of those who had bought from the municipality.
The situation is currently stalled, as all parties are waiting for the outcome
of the next local elections, scheduled for late May 2004.

Source: Diarra, pers.comm.

Are stay-behinds left
behind?

The effects of international migration on the distribution of
income and wealth in the home areas have long been debated in the literature.
Because long-distance migration requires a minimum level of information,
contacts and resources, those who migrate are likely to be among the better-off
within the community, at least in a first stage (Adams, 1996; de Haas, 2003).
These better-off households are therefore more likely to receive remittances,
which they can use to buy land and other key resources, set up new businesses
and improve their childrens education, thereby further widening the gap
with non-migrant households.

In Pakistan, Adams (1996) found that international remittances
increased land concentration by upper-income groups, as they enabled them to buy
irrigated and rain-fed rural lands. On the other hand, internal remittances
tended to go to lower-income households, who used them for the purchase of
agricultural machinery, and partly compensated the negative distributive effects
of international migration. Similarly, in the Philippines, Go (2002) found that
international remittances mainly benefited richer regions, classes and
households. Moreover, anecdotal evidence across West Africa suggests that where
land is a tradable commodity, price rises caused by remittance inflows may make
it more difficult for non-migrant households to gain access to land,
particularly in peri-urban areas.

However, this distributive impact may change over time.
Information may become more readily available, and migrants networks
abroad may motivate and help others to follow. Therefore, poorer households may
also be able to seize the opportunities offered by migration (Adams, 1996; de
Haas, 2003). At this stage, international migration may help reduce income and
wealth inequality at home. First, poorer households receiving remittances can
increase their income and diversify their livelihoods. Secondly, cultural change
facilitated by migration may make lower classes and castes more confident of
challenging traditional elites. For instance, in Southern Morocco, as a result
of these two factors lower classes (smallholders, sharecroppers and agricultural
labourers) have started to challenge the traditional land allocation system,
which is controlled by local elites (de Haas, 2003).

Therefore, for households, horizontal mobility (i.e.
migration) and vertical (i.e. social) mobility are strictly intertwined in a
mutually reinforcing cycle. Ultimately, the distributive effects of remittances
may change considerably from place to place, depending also on the distribution
of income and wealth before migration. In highly stratified societies,
remittances may change the nature of inequality, by superimposing new
elites on the old ones; whether they increase inequality or not is more
difficult to say (see de Haas, 2003).

Gender

Migration is a gendered phenomenon. While both men and women
migrate, the extent to which they do so and the nature of their migration
(duration, type of occupation, etc) tend to vary along gender lines. Where
migrants leave women and their households behind, womens responsibilities
for household livelihoods and for agriculture increase. Some authors suggest
that this increased burden is accompanied by greater decision-making power
within the household. Others note that this effect is very limited, as women
tend to remain under the protection of the extended family (David,
1995; de Haas, 2003).

More research is needed better to understand the
intra-household aspects of remittances-land linkages, particularly whether and
to what extent women retain control over remittances and use them to improve
their access to land, or whether major remittance use decisions, such as those
concerning land-related uses, are taken by male relatives within the extended
family. The answers to these questions are likely to vary greatly from place to
place, depending on cultural factors, on the nature of migration, on urban-rural
differences, and so on.

The impact of remittances on the land
tenure system

A final aspect of the linkages between remittances and land
concerns the effects of remittances on the land tenure system as a whole. This
is an extremely complex issue, and at the stage only some hypotheses may
tentatively be put forward.

As for land rights, in areas where land is becoming scarcer
customary systems have become increasingly individualized as a result of the
breakdown of the extended family, and of agricultural intensification and
commercialization. In these areas, land rights are often sold. Demand for land
purchases from urban elites and others is contributing to these tenure
individualization processes. Remittances may increase the demand for valuable
land; the extent to which this is happening and is fostering individualization
of land rights deserves further research.

As for land rules and institutions, migration may accelerate
the breakdown of customary systems. In Southern Morocco, for instance, migration
has accelerated the erosion of customary land and water authorities through: the
partial emancipation of formerly inferior groups, as they challenge
rules and institutions dominated by traditional elites (see above); land
reclamation through water-pumps and establishment of new farms outside the oasis
area, where customary systems are less strong; and, more generally, cultural
change (de Haas, 2003).

2.5 Factors affecting remittance
decisions

Remittance decisions, and their implications for access to
land in home countries, are affected by many factors, some of which were
mentioned in previous paragraphs. A good understanding of these factors is key
for policy makers and development practitioners to be able to harness the
potential of remittances to promote local development. Relevant factors may be
broadly grouped in two categories: those affecting the amount and frequency of
remittances, and those affecting remittance use and, more specifically, the
propensity to invest in land.

Decisions on whether to invest remittances in land are likely
to be affected by a range of factors, relating to the migrant (desire to return;
amount of remittances sent; age - younger migrants may be keener on
non-agricultural businesses; etc), to the family back home (e.g. income level:
poorer households may find it more difficult to invest remittances),
to the economic and ecological context in the home area (land quality,
profitability of agriculture, infrastructure and market access, etc) and to land
prices relative to migrants purchasing power (see Basok, 2003). Evidence
suggests that while migrants may be willing to invest their savings in their
home country, they are often reluctant to do so because they do not trust enough
the government or local intermediaries.

Policy frameworks in both home and destination countries are
also likely to have a profound influence on remittance decisions. As for
land-related uses, here are two examples of relevant policy areas:

Land legislation
and the broader legal system, particularly the extent to which they provide
adequate tenure security, ensure the transparency of land allocation procedures,
and enable land purchases, including by migrants. In countries where land
ownership by non-nationals is restricted and where dual nationality is not
permitted, migrants may find it difficult to buy land if they acquire the
nationality of their new country of residence.

Trade policy as it affects the
economic profitability of agriculture. For example, cheap food imports may
induce using remittances to buy food rather than to buy land to grow food
(David, 1995). Equally, sanitary and phytosanitary barriers may frustrate the
opportunities that transnational networks create to export agricultural products
to Europe and the United States, thereby reducing the propensity to invest in
land and agriculture.

This chapter has shown the complexity of the linkages between
international remittances and access to land, and of the issues that such
linkages raise. The next two chapters will address these issues with specific
regard to the cases of Senegal and Ghana.

[4] For an excellent analytical
review of this literature, see de Haas, 2003.[5] Note, however, that
comparisons between these types of external funding are difficult given their
extremely different nature. For instance, FDI involves both financial inflows
(capital) and outflows (profits, investment returns, etc).[6] Although transport has
become cheaper, migration can still be quite costly, especially for undocumented
migrants, whose movement is increasingly arranged by highly organised and
unscrupulous groups.[7] For instance, in Cape
Verde, Juana - Ivettes godmother - lives in the upper floor of the house
she built and rents out the lower floor, so as to complement the pension she
receives from Italy.[8] Note however that another
study on migration from Bangladesh to Singapore reached very different
conclusions: most of the remittances were used to repay the loans contracted to
finance migration (52 percent) and to support household consumption (roughly 30
percent) (Rahman, 2000). These different findings might be explained by
differences in the nature of Bangladeshi migration to Singapore and to the
Middle East.[9] Note that this data lumps
together agricultural and residential land.[10] See e.g. Ivette in Cape
Verde, box 2 above. Note that the titling process may be extremely costly for
locals, both formally (fees) and informally (bribes). It would be interesting to
study whether, while locals may feel relatively secure under
customary land tenure, migrants tend to seek land titles.[11] Land allocation may
complement informal purchases. For instance, reports from
state-owned irrigated schemes in Mali and Senegal suggest that tenants
informally sell their rights to outsiders, who then occupy the land
and on that basis apply for formal land allocation by the authorities.